Recap: Islanders lose to Devils 4-1

The New York Islanders saw their three-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, falling 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils at Barclays Center.
Anders Lee scored his team-leading 26th goal of the season, but the Devils answered with four straight goals, including a pair of tallies from Damon Severson 1:26 apart to break open a 1-1 game in the second period. The loss was the Islanders first home loss to the Devils in nine games and dropped the Isles record to 13-2-1 in their last 16 games against New Jersey.

The Islanders - who played the night before in Montreal - said they felt like they ran out of gas on Tuesday, playing the second half of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights. The Devils had been off since Saturday.
"It was a tough draw," Head Coach Doug Weight said. "They've been off for a couple of days, [we had] a real hard couple of games, some battles and went to OT in Montreal against a real fast team. Guys get to bed at 3:30 a.m., it's tough, but teams go through it."
The Islanders did strike first, as Lee beat Long Island native Keith Kinkaid, who started in place of a sick Cory Schneider, on a breakaway at 1:39 of the opening frame. From there, the grinding physical contest - which featured Brock Nelson dropping the gloves with Andy Greene for his first-career fight - gradually shifted to the Devils' favor.

Kyle Palmieri beat Jaroslav Halak with a one-timer to tie the score at 1-1 before the end of the first. Severson broke the game open late in the second, beating Halak with a slap shot from the right circle at 12:58 and again at 14:24 with a heavy shot from the point.
"Two nights in a row we got swarmed," Lee said. "We escaped one last night and tonight it wasn't in the cards to pull something off like that again."
The Severson goals came on the heels of some quality saves by Halak, who made 38 saves, his 10th straight game seeing at least 35 shots. Taylor Hall made it 4-1, keeping, shooting and scoring on a two-on-one rush.
"I don't think it's an excuse as far as not being in shape or anything, I know we are, but that's what you have to manage in a back-to-back," said Thomas Hickey. "Last night in a game where we obviously spent a lot of energy playing in our own end. That's what wears on you and you could see in the third period, the effort was there, but the energy maybe wasn't."

PRINCE LEAVES GAME:

The already-shorthanded Islanders - whom Weight has nicknamed a M.A.S.H. unit - lost another player on Tuesday, as Shane Prince left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
The Islanders were already playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen on Tuesday before Prince's injury. Hickey moved up to the forward corps in Prince's absence.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders host the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at Barclays Center. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.